Jump In Tomorrow
by Kaoz
Summary: Half the people in the world are below average.
1. Prologue

"No one can go back and start a new beginning."

… Normally, that would be true. … Except, I can.

I'm different.

I'm what we call a Jumper.

I have no idea who came up with that but I guess it explains us the best.

My name … I've been debating revealing my identity. On one shoulder I have David telling me to keep the blab to the absolute minimum if I can't be quiet at all.

And on my other shoulder, there's Griffin daring me to yell it, scream it, whatever because 'we can kill them all later'.

I think he might be joking.

Maybe.

Griffin likes to taunt David. And its not difficult. Especially when griffin is using me. David tends to get … big brother protective.

And we're all hunted by Paladins.

They're these … extremists; a secret society from the dark ages and their only purpose is killing our kind. You see an dude in a silver trench coat … I hope you aren't a Jumper. Oh, they're women Paladins too. In case you thought its only guys. I don't think they discriminate. Except against us; Jumpers.

… it might be worse for David. Being hunted.

His Mom left when he was 5. When he first Jumped. She's one of them; a Paladin. Talk about dysfunctional families… Sometimes, I catch myself wondering if his way is worse. Is it better to have a parent abandon you? Or is it better if they try to kill you instead?

She's done both, so … Who am I to complain? I got off easy and quickly.

I was 4 the first time it happened. It was all the noise … I hid and closed my eyes … I remember, I wished we were happy again.

… it got quiet, very still and when I opened my eyes … I wasn't in the closet anymore.

It was my back yard, with the streamers dangling from the branches in the tree and remnants from the party; it had been a few days before. Just the three of us… Mom made the cake, chocolate and strawberries. Dad made hamburgers on the grill. And then… we drove to the lake.

I remember we stayed for the weekend.

But my house was dark and no one was home…

They came back. They were both angry. They looked for me and couldn't find me. They'd called the police… once they stopped fighting with each other to notice I was missing but it didn't keep them from blaming each other. There was a big fuss…

I'm different from David, from Griffin and the other Jumpers we know of. Not many.

For starters … I'm not … real.

Actually, I'm not supposed to be _here_. Alive in this _now_.

You see, when I Jump … I go back. As in days, months … years. At least, I used to. I'm about 20 years out of my 'when'. That's a nice round-about figure. I'm smart enough not to say exactly 'when'.

David doesn't know. Nor does Griffin.

I don't know the future. I can't tell you what the winning lottery numbers were then. Or what disasters will occur.

I had my own disasters I was dealing with; Mother and Father.

And then I found Griffin. I was about 11 then, I think. And I almost jumped out of there. All that noise; the bombs, the gunfire… and Griffin yelling at me to help him.

Me, help? Ha!

But I got him down.

And he took me to my island. Told me to stay put because he had something to finish. That something was a fight with Paladins. A fight I heard from Millie when David was off…where-ever.

Griffin came back. He tried to help me. I mean, we did alright but it took both David and Griffin to get me to stop Jumping to the past.

Now… well, now there's another version of 'us'.

Tomorrow People.

And that's … just … I like the term Jumpers better than I do _that_.

Tomorrow People… I hope Paladins don't get wind of them.

Paladins and Ultra … working together…

16


	2. No Surrender

**No Surrender **

They're persistent. The gray swathed mercenaries with only one goal; kill Jumpers. The same goal since … well, forever. The fear of anything different changing the rules as man knows them to be is always dealt with in the same manner. Destroy the thing that threatens the normal order of things.

And what's normal?

Is it how you take your coffee in the morning? How you dress yourself; pants one leg at a time? How you make love to your partner. Or not.

What defines _normal_?

Because normal for a Jumper is the ability to travel to any place, anywhere in the world, with just a thought and a little…jump.

How?

Its all so very scientific; meaning super complicated and boring to explain. And even then, its not like most people would understand it. Genius IQ's and expensive degrees notwithstanding.

The Paladins …most of them wouldn't understand the 'why' either. There are a few who really don't care to. And there are those who believe, with every particle and cell of their being, a Jumper should not _be._ Should not exist because its against the order of all things.

Archaic, of course.

But like everything, there are a few exceptions.

Like Sophie Drake.

Her Mother wasn't too keen on the … lets call it 'a goal'. This 'goal' is not exactly unusual for Paladins. Heck, they all have one or two particular targets in mind among all the others that present themselves. Little Jumpers that make themselves too public a target to ignore.

But Sophie Drake is very committed to reaching hers; David Rice.

And who is he?

A little family skeleton even Sophie doesn't want to pull out of the Drake closet.

Mary Drake gave birth to him; David Rice. A Jumper.

And Sophie's older half-brother.

**.*.**

She's almost always running. For as long as she can remember there's been something or someone to run from. When she was a little girl it had been the yelling and screaming of her parents. The sound of her Father's fists as he smacked his wife. The sound of her Mother cursing, screaming and finally crying. Both of them, a pair of damaged human beings somehow able to create a special little person.

Våhleryana Rħyder.

Currently hunted by Paladins through her home. A little island in the middle of nowhere she thought had been off their radar. As it turns out, Våhleryana has become a very special target. High priority among a large group of Paladins.

Våhleryana is a little different from most Jumpers. The tendency to Jump when ever they like, where ever they want, at any time… isn't exactly one of hers. Which is why she's having trouble getting away form the Paladins that invaded her home.

She's not exactly defenseless, either. And they know it.

They've managed to flank her, trying to box her in and they've cut off her way to the beach.

Breathing hard, sweaty and more annoyed by the second, Våhleryana stops her attempts at outrunning them. She heads right for the young Paladin with the mean beady eyes. He's startled by that, definitely not expecting to find her in front of him. There's no time to bring up the electric whip gun and the full blast of her 'push' sends him flying into the jungle.

"Hope you guys get a million mosquito bites and die from the itching!"

Ridiculous, yes. She's only 17 and hasn't led the 'normal' teenagers life. There's worse things she could say to them but what's the point?

Våhleryana Jumps, leaving the four Paladins to group at her last location. The Jump Scar is open and they promptly set up the box to keep it that way. They work quickly and in silence. They step back and allow the cables to shoot into the scar.

Våhleryana keeps looking behind her, lungs burning as she swims further from her island and the Jump Scar the Paladins think they'll use to catch her. Once she makes it behind the reef, she Jumps again and kicks as hard as she can to break the surface. Her gasp of breath echoes from the roof of the cave all around.

The explosion is like a tiny pop, though she can see its nothing like that as her cave starts to crumble over her head. Rocks plonk into the pool of water she's in and the crunch of something breaking makes her wince. Once everything settles again, she swims to the edge of the pool and starts to haul herself out of the water.

"I liked it here."

Her voice echoes and she glares at the mess of what had been a dresser and armoire. They're both broken, clothes covered in dirt and rocks thanks to the explosion and the Paladins.

"Why can't they leave us alone?"

She gathers her clothes, swiping away the chunks of rock.

"Why can't they leave _me_ alone?"

She flicks her finger at the armoire and sends it tumbling on its back. The soft shimmer of energy completely ignored.

"What did I do to them?"

She tosses the clothes in her arms on her bed and makes a face at all the dust and weeds covering it.

"I stay out of the way. Mind my own business. Don't cause trouble!"

She throws her arms up and walks over to the dresser to grab everything that isn't ruined.

"I liked it here!"

She pouts. Her eyes wandering over her little cave. It had been her home the past five years. A safe place away from everything that could harm her. Away from Paladins and anyone who wanted to hurt her.

A tear slid down her cheek, ignored. She mourned the loss of her home because she wouldn't be coming back. The Paladins would make sure of it.

**.*.**


End file.
